Township CAO sues councillor for $1 million

The chief administrative officer for the Township of Leeds and the Thousand Islands is suing a township councillor for $1 million.

CAO Greg Borduas claims that Councillor John Paul Jackson defamed him when the councillor made public allegations from two in-camera council meetings in May. Jackson also defamed Borduas in Facebook posts and in emails circulated to staff and councillors at township hall, Borduas claims.

In a statement of claim filed in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, Borduas claims that Jackson made “false, defamatory and malicious” allegations against him.

Borduas said Jackson first made the allegations in an April 25 email to township staff members, council members and the senior management team.

“The email alleged that Mr. Borduas has engaged in workplace harassment and sexual harassment, including leering at female staffers, looking down their blouses, changing his clothes in his office in front of a window, bullying other staffers with repeated ‘inappropriate behaviour,’ listening into phone calls and rifling through their desks at night,” Borduas’ suit says.

The lawsuit says that Borduas suffered “injury to his integrity, character and damage to his professional reputation” as well as “significant diminution in his standing in the community” because of the allegations.

The lawsuit is also against CKWS Kingston, which reported on Jackson’s allegations. None of Borduas’ claims have been proven in court. Jackson and Corus Entertainment, which owns CKWS, have 20 days to respond to Borduas’ statement of claim.

In its summary of the events following Jackson’s email, the lawsuit says the township appointed an external investigator to look into the “workplace complaint” on April 26. Borduas was placed on administrative leave during the investigation, which was standard procedure, according to the lawsuit.

When the investigator reported back to council at its first closed meeting on May 23, she found that Borduas’ conduct did not amount to either sexual or workplace harassment, according to the summary. The investigator found that the complaints were in bad faith and malicious.

The council left its closed session and voted in public to hire Borduas on a permanent basis, ending his probation.

In another closed meeting a week later, council decided to fire two senior staffers and suspend two others for the “malicious” allegations that they made against Borduas, the summary says.

The statement of claim says that Jackson made public reports and emails from the two in camera meetings, including the complaints against Borduas, contrary to the confidentiality provisions in council’s code of conduct. CKWS and other media, including The Recorder and Times, reported Jackson’s statements.

Council later suspended Jackson’s pay for three months for violating the code of conduct based on the recommendation of the township’s integrity commissioner.

“Jackson made numerous defamatory comments through the township’s complaint process. Rather than following the protocol for filing a sexual harassment and workplace harassment complaint, the defendant Jackson circulated the complaint to every member of council on April 25. The complaint was also sent to five members of the senior management team,” the statement claims.

Borduas claims that Jackson compounded the defamation in two interviews with CKWS. In them, Jackson said the allegations against Borduas showed a “pattern of bad behaviour,” he emphasized the number of complaints to suggest Borduas was guilty and the complaints were credible, the lawsuit alleges.

The suit claims that a Facebook post by Jackson implies that a conspiracy exists to suppress incriminating information against Borduas and that the allegations are true.

Other Jackson Facebook posts during August compounded the defamation, the lawsuit claims.

“The malicious, high-handed and arrogant conduct of the defendants warrants an award of punitive, aggravated and/or exemplary damages,” it claims.

The lawsuit against Jackson and CKWS asks for $500,000 in general damages, $200,000 in punitive damages, $200,000 in aggravated damages and $100,000 in special damages for a total of $1 million.

Borduas, a resident of Ingersoll, Ont., asks that his lawsuit be heard in a London, Ont. courtroom.